Unconditional
by JokerCarnage5
Summary: A collections of romantic one-shots featuring Abby & Chester. Thru happiness & sadness, adolescence & marriage, AUs & canon. Their love remains unconditional. Ratings might vary.
1. Stargazing

**Stargazing:**

"Abby, you can't see Aries during the summer."

"Yes, I can. Look." Abby exclaimed and pointed out a series of stars in the sky that at least to her formed the image of a goat.

"Abby, that's not Aries. That's just some stars that you've decided look like a ram." Chester cheerfully stated. He couldn't get enough of his friend's playful nature.

"Yeah, that's what Aries is. Therefore it's April and therefor you should get me a birthday present." The longhaired girl japed.

Chester held down a chuckle. "Then it might as well be my birthday soon too cause I can see Scorpio up there." He pointed out some stars that he thought looked kind of like a scorpion.

"That's not a scorpion. It's a branding iron." Abby retorted nonchalantly.

Chester rolled his eyes. Try as he may, he could never get one up on her. Her mind was as quick and sharp as her tongue.

The two friends were lying atop the Archer residents' roof, looking at the stars and enjoying each other's company. Abby's parents had gone to a friend of theirs for a dinner party and Ty was sleeping over at Naomi's place (lucky bastard). Not wanting to be alone, Abby had invited Chester to hang out. Not that she would told her parents about it. If they ever heard their sweet daughter was spent time alone with a boy (even if it was a platonic friend that they already knew) their heads would go thru the roof.

As usual, spending time with Chester had been fun. They had ordered pizza, watched anime and listened to music. They had then taken a stroll thru the neighbourhood and when they came home, Abby suggested they should open a couple of beers and go onto the roof.

At the moment, the two just laid there in silence. Gazing at the stars or resting their tired eyes. On occasion taking a sip of their drinks. This was something Abby greatly appreciated about her friend. He understood the virtue of silence. The two of them could be alone together, not say a word yet be completely comfortable in each other's presence.

"Abby." Chester broke the silence with his usual gentle voice. "Do you believe in God?"

Abby opened her eyes and sat up, resting her arms on her knees. "Wow Chester, that's one hell of a question."

"I'm sorry." Chester apologized as he sat up in the same position. "Did I make things awkward?"

"No, no. We're BFFs so we should know each other's religious alignments. Otherwise, it might get awkward when I ask you to go to Waco with me."

Chester broke out laughing. He laughed so hard he had to bite down on his wrist to stop himself. "Abby, that's not okay." Another laughter fit cracked out of the boy's throat. "That's horrible."

Abby smirked. "You always brings out the worst in me." She was joking of course. Chester never brought anything but positive emotions out of her but he did do something to her. Whenever Abby was around him, she found herself lowering her guard. He was just so comfortable to be around. Therefore, it sometimes became difficult to restrain herself. It had led to more than one awkward moment between them.

She tapped one ponderous finger to her chin. "Do I believe in god? I've actually never thought about it. We never were very religious in my family. I went to Sunday school a few times when I was a kid but other than that we've only been to church for funerals or weddings."

"I see." Chester said.

"I know Ty's an atheist. He's pretty open about it too so he won't mind me telling you and I have no idea what my parents believe in." Abby explained. "Personally I never saw any reason to believe in something there's no evidence for but I guess I'm open to the idea."

Chester rested his head against his knees as he gazed at her. "So, you're like an agnostic atheist."

"If that's the label for it." Abby shrugged before looking at him. "So, how about you?"

The blond let out a sigh. "I don't know anymore."

Abby blinked and tilted her head, getting a bit worried.

"I did believe when I was younger. I would go to church, confess my sins and pray pretty often but then, the incident happened." His expression turned grim. Whenever he mentioned the incident, Abby knew immediately what he was referring to. "I thought god was punishing me for my hubris."

Abby placed a comforting hand on her friends shoulder. "You were trying to help people, Chester."

"No, I was trying make people like me."

Abby let out a heavy sigh. "Do you have to see it such a negative light? You don't have to be a saint to be a good person, you know." She started to gently stroke his back. "I know you well enough to tell you wanted to both help people and get recognised. There's nothing sinful about that. Even our scatter-brained Director understand that so the creator of the universe should understand it too."

Chester smiled sadly. "Well, after I got cured off Kid Rot and was made a Grossologist and after you became my friend I wondered if it had all been part of God's plan. Then I started feeling guilty for thinking so. All that destruction and pain just so I could be happy."

Abby flashed him the warmest of smiles. "But you're happy. You should never feel guilty about that."

It got him to smile a bit. Abby always knew what to say. "You're right. I am happy. I shouldn't try to make myself feel bad for it." He tilted his head up slightly and gazed at the waxing moon in the distance. "I-I still believe in God but there is something I want to believe in even more."

Abby got curious. "What's that, Chester?"

Chester blushed and ducked his head. "I can't tell you. It's a secret."

"Come on, tell me." Abby insisted, leaning closer to him.

The boy buried his face in his arms. "You're going to laugh at me."

"I promise I won't."

He peaked up slightly. "Promise."

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Abby enthusiastically chirped and stroked her finger over her shirt in a cross pattern.

"Okay." Chester straightened his back a little. "What I want to believe in is…" He paused and looked up at the stars above him. "Unconditional love."

Abby stared at him, perplexed. "Unconditional love?"

Chester smiled and nodded to her, happy she hadn't laughed. He then gazed out over Petunia's garden and the suburbs. "My mom couldn't love me when I was growing up and eventually abandoned me and as you know I couldn't make any friends. I thought I had to accomplish something great to make people care about me. The idea of being love just for who you are was such a foreign concept to me." Tears started to form at the base of his eyes but he dried them off with his glove before they started trailing. He then smiled optimistically, like he saw something wondrous in the distance. "But that's what I want to believe in from now on. I want to love people no matter what they do to me or how they feel about me."

Abby blinked, astonished. Her expression of wonderment turned to a sullen face as her gaze descended to her shoes. "That can be difficult, Chester. Just cause you love someone doesn't mean they'll feel the same."

"That's not what I meant, Abby." He said and she looked at him. His smile was warm and comforting. "Whatever Kid Rot felt for you, it wasn't love. To me, love means doing the right thing for the people you hold dear. I still love my mom even thou she couldn't do the same and I love the lord even thou he keeps testing me. Kid Rot may have ruined my life but he was a part of me so I choose to love him as well."

Abby blinked and turned her look away. She wondered if she could love someone even if they'd hurt her like the people in Chester's life had. _'Chester said Kid Rot was a part of him. Looking at it that way, I guess I already…' _Abby shook her head, not wanting to continue down that train of thought.

When she'd first befriended Chester it was over a need to help the poor boy. Call it pity if you will but she'd always had a strong sense of compassion. As days went by, compassion turned to admiration as she saw this boy that by all means should have broken by his many tragedies rose to the occasion over and over again. _'Unconditional love.' _Was this the faith that helped him keep going?

Chester was suddenly startled by something. He quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Man, its _way_ past ten already. I need to get going." He rose onto his feet.

"Yeah, I should stay out for too long either." Abby stated. Chester, being the gentleman that he was, helped her up her feet and the two then snuck in thru the open window. As Grossologists they had the athletic capacity to get up on high places rather easily.

"Thank you for coming. You saved me from spending yet another boring night alone while the rest of my family has fun without me." Abby sarcastically kidded as they took their farewell by the doorstep.

Chester smiled at her. "Anytime Abby. I really had fun today."

He was about to go when Abby spoke up again. "Chester." He stopped in his tracks. "About that unconditional love thing. I have a couple of questions about that. Two exactly." She held up two fingers.

"Okay." Chester nodded.

"First, you said you _choose_ who you love."

"Yeah. Me or my heart choose who to love. Then I do what best for them till I die."

Abby frowned a bit. "That does not mean you should let people take advantage of you."

"I know which is why it's important that I include myself among the people I love." Chester answered and turned his gaze away. "It might end with me lonely and unloved but at least I'll know everyone will be alright, including me."

Abby just stared at him with those large, sympathetic eyes of her.

Chester let out a sigh. "So, what was the second question?"

Abby blinked. "Oh, nothing. Forget it." She shrugged her shoulders before leaning against the doorframe, trying to seem indifferent.

The blonde boy tilted his head and smiled. "If your second question were going to be if I love you, you don't have to worry."

Startled, Abby stiffened and blinked. Before she knew what was happening, Chester had leaned in and planted a small kiss on her cheek.

"Unconditional love means you don't have to tell me."

He then ran away as fast as his legs could carry him, leaving the girl he loved with a moist cheek and a head full of questions. Abby remained paralyzed at the open door. Eventually, she touched the place where Chester had kissed her. Her puzzled expression turned to a blissful smile. In the cool night air she breathed out, "I love you too."


	2. Cuddling

**Cuddling:**

"Abby, you're so distracting." Chester pretended to protest but a chuckle escaping his throat gave away the truth.

His girlfriend hummed pleasantly. "I can't help it. You're so soft." She rested her cheek against his back while her arms snaked underneath his arms and caressed his torso.

"I'm trying to study for the test." Chester insisted.

Abby snorted. "The test isn't for another week, Chester and its biology so you know you'll get an A." She rested her chin atop his shoulder. "Besides, it's been a while since we cuddled. I'm getting withdrawal symptoms."

"You're being silly."

The girl giggled and leaned over his shoulder in order to plant a kiss on the boy's cheek. "I've always been silly. You knew that before we got together."

Her hand had been circling his chest for a while, generating a cozy hotspot that made him feel warm and at peace.

Chester let out a sigh and put the book away before leaning back into Abby's bosom, seemingly surrendering to his girlfriend's ministrations.

Abby hugged him tighter, pulling him even closer. _'Victory!' _Her mind hollered in glee. Chester was everything she'd wanted in a boyfriend. Smart, gentle, caring and cute as a button. He was overtly shy thou but Abby didn't mind. She liked a challenge and as time went on, she got him to open up. His self-esteem had improved as well. Well, a little.

"You're so huggable. If you weren't such a charmer I would stuff you up and keep you as a plushie." She kissed his blonde hair.

Chester's cheeks turned beat red. He might act reluctant to her advancements but truth was he craved physical contact as much as she did, if not even more so due to his lack of human connections during his early years. Yet, even thou he'd been going steady with Abby for months, he still felt bad for enjoying himself for some reason.

Abby continued with her ministrations. Kissing his sunny hair, stroking his warm shirt and nuzzling the nap of his neck. After a kiss to his shoulder she said, "I love you, Chester."

"I-I love you to." Chester replied.

Abby then craned her neck over his shoulder and started to plant kisses along the side of his neck. What she didn't know was that she had left herself open for a sneak attack. Chester managed to snake an arm underneath her armpit and around her slim body. With one swift motion, Abby was scooped up and made to lie on top of him.

She looked up at him, her cerulean eyes meet his brown irises. He was still blushing but his gaze was assuring and affectionate. Abby beamed him a mega-volt smile before reaching up and brushing her lips against his.

Chester placed one hand on the small of her back as his other hand gently stroked her ponytail. Abby had had other boyfriends but Chester was the first capable to stroke her illustrious hair without it feeling like he was trying to yank it off her head. Gently, his hand followed the strands of hair, very lightly pressing down on it to heat up her back.

As he continued petting her, his lips remained locked with hers. Pressing, caressing, tasting. It was enough to get addicted. They pulled apart, their eyes once again exchanging affectionate glances. Abby's cheeks were blushed as well. A giddy smile spread across her face which Chester returned with a giddy smile of his own.

"You sure are distracting." Chester humorously chastised to which Abby heartily giggled. She tucked her head into the croak of his neck and let him continue to cuddle her.


	3. Smiles

**Smiles:**

Whenever Chester used to see Abby, he would approach her with a sprint in his steps. Over time he's learned to control his reflexes but at the beginning he just couldn't help himself. Whenever he called out her name she would turn to him

…and smile.

To Chester, Abby's smile was the sunshine in his life. A promise that the person who mattered the most to him was happy, happy to see him, happy he existed, happy they were together.

First time Abby smiled at him like that, Chester could have swore his heart stopped for a second. It had been so long since anyone looked at him like that. Most people would sneer at him or if they were more polite, plaster on a disingenuous smile. Chester had little in terms of social skills but he could tell when people didn't want him around. That was certainly not the case with Abby. Abby's smile was always genuine, always warm and welcoming.

A lot of people mistook Abby for a humourless stick in the mud due to all the extra responsibilities she took on but Chester knew nothing could be further from the truth. Abby was a spirited girl. She loved to smile, to laugh and to jape. Further, she loved to make others smile and laugh. She took on a lot of responsibilities cause she was a go-getter, it wasn't enough for her to simple observe the flow of the world, she wanted to be part of it and there was nothing Chester wanted more than to be part of her journey. Whenever Abby laughed, Chester felt at peace with the world. It let him know that she was well and that everything was going to be okay.

Her smile made him smile.

* * *

To Abby, there was something special about Chester's smile. To her, his smile was something precious to be protected and treasured.

Chester had a different smile for every occasion but Abby knew what was going on behind each and every one of those smiles. To her, his emotions were an open book. Chester's first smile was a fabricated one that he put on when he didn't want people to worry about him. Abby knew Chester was a selfless person who didn't want to burden anyone so she would play gullible, pretending to not see his pain and try to ease it by reminding him anyway she could that she was here for him and always would be.

Then there was what Abby thought of as his humble smile. His head and hair would be lowered and Abby could see a glint of sadness in his eyes but his smile would be genuine. This was the smile he wore when he was grateful. Abby knew of his past, she knew of all the horrible things he's gone thru and in those moments she knew he felt blessed to have all of that behind him and could live a seminal normal life with friends and loved ones. That smile, his blessed smile lifted Abby's spirit up in a way she never could imagine. She felt like she could cry and laugh at the same time, like her heart would sour out of her chest. And she promised herself that she would take care of that smile till Chester could accept that he indeed deserved all the love and happiness he'd been given.

Finally, there was Chester's purest smile. A smile so utterly devoid of any duplicity that there was no doubt in her mind that Chester was happy. In Abby's mind, there was no smile more beautiful. It was the utter rejection of past failures, a complete liberation of life's hardships.

Abby knew she was one of the reasons he was able to smile like that. The notion that she could inspire such emotions in a person who's never known true happiness was more rewarding than any top grades or victories on baseball field. She came to love his smile at every occasion.

She loved his smile when they greeted each other every day at school, when laughed together with their friends, when they brought down a supervillain together as Grossologists, she loved seeing her own smile reflect in his eyes whenever they got more intimate with one another and eventually she'd come to love his smile as the first thing she saw when she woke up in the morning.

Their smiles reflected one another beat for beat. Always reminding the other of the joy they had brought into the each other's life, inspiring an unending cycle of smiles and laughter.


	4. First Encounter

**First Encounter (Normal AU):**

Chester woke up to the sound of his alarm. The whites of his eyes were red and his cheeks were dried. As always, Chester had cried himself to sleep the other night, not just because of the pain inflicted during the day but also the pain he knew he would face today and tomorrow and every day. He cried over his lack of power, power to change his life for the better.

Chester and his mother lived in a one store house and he could see the kitchen from his bedroom. During the night he'd thought of a certain knife lying had in one of the drawers. It would be easy to reach the kitchen and just end his suffering. It hadn't been the first time he thought of doing such a thing. He's gotten so far as to push a blade against his wrist but he always stopped himself before cutting thru the skin. He didn't really know why he choose to stay alive. He was pretty certain no one would miss him. Wouldn't he be making himself and everyone else a favour?

He reached out and shut off his alarm clock and then pulled the covers over his head. He didn't want to go to school. He wanted to stay in bed, away from those who wanted to hurt him, where he could wallow in his own loneliness but he knew his mother would force him to leave sooner or later.

* * *

Later, Chester brushed his teeth and washed his face. This was the only time of the day when the view of his face wasn't obstructed by his long hair. He moved a lock to his ear and touched the skin underneath his left eye.

In 4rd grade, the girls made a list were they ranked all the guys from cutest to ugliest and hanged it up in the hallway for everyone to see. Chested had been at the bottom. He could understand why. He had wrinkles and bags underneath his eyes. They were probably from stress and sleep deprivation but he couldn't remember a time when he didn't have them. _'What kind of teenager has wrinkles?' _His dirty blonde hair was long and his body was scrawny, some people said he looked more like an ugly girl than a real boy. He could of course cut his hair but he didn't want to. It acted as a sort of cover for him, something to hide behind.

Then there was his skin. Chester really didn't care about the ethnicity of others, everyone else looked fine in their own skin but when it came to his, it just looked wrong. He didn't even know what it was supposed to be. It wasn't quite tan and it wasn't quite white. Italian maybe? Some kind of Latino? His mom had blonde hair but her skin was white and his father had had tanned skin but a lot darker than his. His darker skin matched so poorly with his blonde hair.

Chester sighed. _'I shouldn't be so shallow. Just because everyone hates how I look doesn't mean I have to. I wouldn't dress like a rock star if I did.'_

* * *

_A while later…_

The fist collided with his stomach and he staggered back in pain, clutching his sore abdomen.

When he arrived at school, he was confronted by Kent and his group of friends. A lot of people at school bullied him but Kent was one of the few who would get downright violent with him. There were two ways people tended to torment Chester. Either verbally by taunting him and spreading slanderous rumours or physically by inflicting him with pain.

It may seem strange but Chester preferred the physical abuse. At least then he could fight back a little.

He marched straight up to the larger boy and tried to punch him in the face but Kent simple leaned back, causing Chester's fist to only brush against his chin. Kent then kicked the blonde's stomach and fell onto his hands and knees.

Kent smirked before grabbing a fistful of Chester's hair and slammed him against the muddy ground.

"No! Leave me alone." Chester whimpered.

"What? I thought you liked dirt, Mister Botanist?" Kent taunted as he lifted Chester's head up by the hair and slammed him back against the ground again.

One of Kent's friends laughed as he ran up to Chester and kicked him in the side, causing Chester to groan in pain, rolling over on his side to protect his new sore spot. The gang laughed at him a bit before walking away. Chester could hear Kent say, "What a loser."

With his body still sore, Chester stood up. His tears blended with the mud on his face.

"You okay?"

Chester turned around and saw a boy with a concerned facial expression. He didn't know the guy's name but he'd seen him around. "No worries. I'm used to this." Chester replied with a fake smile.

The random guy shrugged before leaving him alone.

It's not that people were never nice to Chester. Oh no! Most people were good in Chester's eyes but they were only ever good to him _after_ they witnessed some injustice done to him. They offered him pity and nothing more.

Before, Chester perceived their acts of kindness as signs of friendship but when he tried to approach them later, they would reject him. Some would be polite about it and make excuses, others would straight out tell him to get lost. In a way, Chester was thankful people at least cared when he was being mistreated (even if they wouldn't do anything to stop it) but he didn't want their pity. He wanted their affection, their friendship. Something he'd long for his entire life but seemed like such a distant goal.

* * *

Once inside the school, he washed the mud off his face in the public drinking fountain (sadly there was nothing to do about his clothes) before sitting down on a bench. He was checking the clock on the wall. He wanted to get into the biology lab so he could check on a project of his but it would probably not be open yet so he waited.

As the minutes ticked by, more and more students poured into the hallway. Chester saw a group of slightly younger girls talking to each other, he saw some boys hang by the lockers and he witnessed a boy and a girl embrace one another and exchange small kisses.

Chester's fingers gripped the edge of the bench even harder as he was filled up with jealousy.

'_It's so unfair! Why do some people get to have a family, friends and lovers while I don't get to have any of that? If only-if only somebody would give me a chance.' _Chester quickly scolded himself upon thinking that. _'No, that's not true. People have given me plenty of chances but I just keep messing up. I'm useless!'_

It was true. There had been moments when Chester gotten to interact with his peers but each time his lack of social skills had ruined his chances. Either, he'd get too excited and talk too much or he would be too nervous to speak at all. In either case the people around him would always get uncomfortable and distance themselves.

Chester understood very well of the mistakes he made and tried to learn from them but it was so hard to implement that knowledge. He wished he could meet somebody patient, somebody who would let him make his mistakes and try again but who would do that for a person just so they could _eventually _become a good friend. Chester felt himself sinking deeper into depression with each rejection so eventually he gave up. It wasn't fair on the others either, making them feel uncomfortable just so he could _try_ to make friends.

"Hey! What are you staring at?"

Chester was startled at the sudden voice. It was the girl he saw kissing that boy. He was so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't even realized he'd been looking at them. Hesitantly, he opened his mouth to apologize but the boyfriend wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders and led her away. "Come on, let's leave. That guy is clearly a real creep."

Chester lowered his head in shame. _'No matter where I go, I make people uncomfortable.' _As he kept waiting on the bench, he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to have a girlfriend but if friendship was so far out of reach, the chance he'd ever find somebody who could love him seemed like an utter impossibility.

He looked at the clock again. It was past eight now so the biology lab should be open. He got off his bench and headed for the aforementioned room.

* * *

Once Chester opened the door to the biology room, he was startled at the sight of another student.

She was a girl.

Even thou she had her back turned to him, he knew he'd never seen her before. Why? Because he'd never seen anyone with hair so long before. Not only was it so long it reached the girl's heels but it also had a very lovely Carmine red colour to it. The rest of her body seemed to have a very slick hourglass shape to it.

She was currently studying a Riker mount with a large assortment of beetles pinned inside (and not that he would notice it but she was very fascinated at what she was seeing). Once she felt done with her examination, she picked up the rather heavy Riker mount and tried to place it back on the shelf but the moment she did so, the entire shelf collapse under it weight. The girl quickly got her arm under the shelf to prop it up but one Riker mount at the end of the shelf tipped over the edge and fell towards the floor but Chester had already rushed to the girl's side and caught it.

The girl beside him sighed in relief. "Thank you. You're a real lifesaver."

Chester turned to face her. He almost gasped at how beautiful she was. She had blue eyes and a very pleasant smile, not to mention the asymmetrical perfection of her body. Realizing he was staring, he lowered his head a bit, gazing the floor as he usually did when someone looked at him. Eye contact always made him anxious. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to stare." He greeted, waving his hand a bit. "I-I can leave if you um, need to use this room."

"Nah, I just came to look at some cool stuff. No matter what school I go to, the biology room's always my favourite spot." The redheaded girl replied, looking around the room.

Chester blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, although I did not have permission to open that covet or take out one of the Rikers." She bashfully rubbed the back of her head. "So, thank you. If I had broken anything on my first day, the teachers would have had my head."

"Y-you're new here?" He asked puzzled.

She nodded. "So, what's your name?"

"Che-Chester." The blonde boy cursed his stuttering.

"And what are you doing here?" Was her next question.

"I-I came to look at my plant." He pointed at a pot in the windowsill. It had a small sprout protruding in the middle. "I-I p-planted it la-last week and I j-just wa-wanted t-to s-s-see if it had grown any and maybe water it a bit."

"Um, Chester, you're bleeding." The redhead pointed out.

Chester blinked before looking at his arm. It was somewhat exaggerated to say it was bleeding. It was scratched, probably from the sharp edge of the Riker mount he clumsily caught. Chester simple smiled at the girl. "It's okay. It d-doesn't hurt a-and unless I ru-rub dirt in it I doubt it gets infected."

The girl smiled and seemed to relax. "Well, that's good. I hope we meet again so I can repay you for hurting yourself just for my sake." She gave him a pat on the shoulder and walked out of the room.

Chester blinked as he watched her leaving. _'What an odd girl. She didn't even tell me her name.' _His lips curled up into a smile thou. _'She seemed interesting thou.'_

* * *

Chester's head rested against his arms, folded up on his bench. Unfortunately, Chester was in the same home class as many that enjoyed tormenting him. Kent, Paige and the likes. Before, Chester had actually liked answering his teachers whenever they asked the class something but after being named called one to many times, Chester stopped trying entirely. Apparently, the other students found it annoying when he talked so it was better to not draw attention to himself. As Chester prepared for another silent schooldays, some of his classmates still talked within their respective clicks, other prepared for class by unloading the supply they needed.

Their homeroom teacher Mister Scheffer entered the room. "Alright students, settle down. Class is about to start." He waited a minute for everyone to properly sit down and for the room to get completely quiet. "Before we resume our studies, it's my pleasure to tell you all that we have a new student joining us today." He turned to the exit door and raised his voice, "You may enter, Abigail."

Turning to see the student coming into the room, Chester's eyes dilated in surprise. It was the redheaded girl from earlier.

The new girl strolled forward to stand in front of everyone and with a cheerful smile she said, "Nice to meet you everyone. My name's Abigail Archer but please, call me Abby."

Kent let out a lecherous whistle. "You're hot!"

Abby blinked.

"Kent! Behave yourself!" Mister Scheffer ordered his student. "Sorry for that Abby. You may continue. Tell us a little bit about ourselves."

This girl named Abby started telling the class about herself, Chester hanging onto every word. Apparently, her family had lived in the city before but her mother's career required them to move out of the country for a few years. Abby also spoke of some of her interests. Even thou she didn't look it, she's apparently somewhat of a tomboy that enjoyed sports such as volley ball, baseball and soccer. She also made it very clear that she loved animals of all sorts, from snakes to horses.

When she was done, Mister Scheffer told her to take an empty seat. As Abby moved towards an empty seat a few rows back, she looked at Chester and shot him a friendly smile. It wouldn't mean much to most people and no one seemed to notice it, it was just a gesture of acknowledgment but to someone like Chester it meant a whole lot.

* * *

The rest of the morning went by without mishaps. Abby kept steady pace with her classmates despite being behind on a lot of stuff. Once class was over and lunchbreak began, Abby was the first to march out of the classroom. She stood still in the hallways, closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. After having been home-schooled for the last three years, being back in a crowded classroom took a lot out of her.

Abby hadn't been afraid at all to go back to regular school, if anything she couldn't wait to join one or two of the school's sports teams but what did bother her was that this would be her first schoolyear without her little brother Ty. She was fifteen now while he was fourteen and still attended Junior High. Her brother was her soulmate. She had never had to make any friends outside of her family because of her reliance on him. Still, even if Abby didn't make many friends it wouldn't matter too much to her. She'd never been the social type and whenever she felt lonely, she had people at home to be with. _'Still, maybe this year, I'll make some genuine-_

"Abby?"

She turned around to face the owner of the voice.

It was a girl she recognized as one of her new classmates. She was just as tall as her and had long, curly blonde hair of various shades. She wore exclusively pink clothes, a pink cap, a pink wool shirt, a pink skirt, pale pink stocks and pink sandals.

Behind her was two other blonde girls also dressed exclusively in pink. Luckily they had distinguishing hairstyles and attire. One was shorter and had a pink barrette in her bright golden blond hair. The other one was taller (even taller than Abby herself) and had a pink beret on top of a head full of honey coloured hair.

"I'm Paige Logan. Class president and the daughter of the founder of LogCo. I like to officially welcome you to our school." The first girl said, holding out a hand in greeting.

'_Why did she feel the need to tell me who her dad was?' _Abby wondered, slightly weirded out but none the less smiled and shake her hand. "Nice meeting you Paige. I'm Abby but you already knew that."

"This girl here is Tammy." Paige gestured to the honey haired girl.

"Hey there." Tammy greeted, shaking Abby's hand.

"And this is Vicky." Paige gestured to the shorter girl.

Vicky didn't say anything. She just waved at her and shot her a friendly smile.

"So Abby, do you want me to give you a tour. It's in my job description after all." Paige exclaimed.

"Nah, a teacher gave me a tour earlier this morning."

Paige huffed in fake annoyance. "Teachers ruin everything." Vicky giggled a bit at the joke. "I love what you've done with your hair."

"Really?" Abby grinned and blushed at the compliant, absentmindedly touching her ponytail. "My mom thinks I should cut it shorter."

"Are you kidding me? Most girls would kill to have hair like that." Paige exclaimed. "Have you ever considered dyeing it blonde?"

Abby pondered for a moment. "Yes, blonde or black would be cool."

"No, no. You have a cute face so you should definitely go with blonde." Paige quickly insisted. "Do you like shopping?"

"Do I!" Abby loudly proclaimed, a grin stretching across his face. _'This must be what a real girl talk is like.'_

Paige turned to the other girls for a moment. "See, I told ya she'd fit in here." She turned back to look at Abby. "There's this great mall down town. We could hang there afterschool today."

Abby tilted her head a bit but her smile remained. "Probably not but maybe Friday or Saturday."

"It's a deal, then. Now, we ought to get going." Paige said before she and her friends turned around and started walking.

Abby raised a puzzled brow. "Um, guys? Isn't the cafeteria this way or am I completely lost?" She pointed in the opposite direction.

The girls stopped walking and turned to face her. "Oh, we are going to the cafeteria but first we need to go the bathroom to reapply our make-up." Paige explained. "You in?"

"I don't wear makeup."

Paige shrugged. "Okay, see you in the cafeteria later than."

Abby nodded. "Right. See you there." And with that, Abby and the three girls went their separate ways. _'Paige seem a bit vain but also really generous, kind of cool too. I bet we're going to best friends.'_

* * *

Once in the cafeteria, Abby loaded her plate with today's lunch which happened to be meatloaf and mashed potatoes. She let her eyes wander as she looked for a place to sit when she saw something that didn't seem right. Chester, that boy she met in the biology room was sitting all alone at an otherwise empty table. He didn't seem to eat either, just poking his fork in the food.

Abby approached. "Hey."

The blonde was startled as he looked up at her.

"Can I sit here?" Abby asked with a pleasant smile.

Chester looked at the empty table and then back at Abby again. His nervous twitches reminded Abby of a meerkat or something. "Y-yes." He replied.

Abby sat down on a seat across the table, in front of him. "Is the food here any good?"

"It's alright." The blonde mumbled and shoved some mashed potato into his mouth.

The two sat in silence and ate for a while. Every once in a while, Chester would look up at her. _'Should I talk to her? I want to talk to her but what if I say something that makes her uncomfortable.' _There was nothing Chester wanted more in the entire world than to make meaningful connections with people and he knew in order to do that, he needed to make an effort. He remember the stuff Abby told during her introduction and he remember seeing her looking at the Riker mount. Armed with this information, he decided to take a chance.

"So, y-your mom's a-an ento…mologist?"

It was more of a mumble than anything but Abby heard him. "Yeah. You know what that means?"

"Th-that s-she studies b-bugs." Chester replied, trying to not come off too much like a smart-ass, knowing how much that annoyed people.

Abby smiled and tilted her head slightly. _'At least he doesn't seem like the judgemental type.' _"Exactly. She mainly studies dung beetles but she's dabbled a bit in insecticides as well."

A faint smile formed on Chester's face. "That's cool."

"You don't think it's weird or gross?"

Chester chook his head. "Do-do you like bugs too?"

"I love all kinds of animals," Abby grinned, "especially animals that are weird or creepy. Hagfish, skin beetles, mites. How about you?"

"Huh?" Chester blinked. _'Is she trying to say I'm weird or gross or something?'_

"Do you like animals?" Abby clarified.

Chester felt relieved. "Oh, I like animals. I love all aspects of biology but my main passion is botany." He regretted saying those words the moment they left his mouth. _'Oh no, now when she knows what I like she will think I'm weird. I'm so stupid. Why can't I like stuff that a normal person would like?'_

"The study of plants, eh." Abby noted and took a sip of her milk. "You do any gardening?"

Chester peaked up. "Um, yeah. I-I have my-my own ga-garden."

A smirk developed on Abby's face, although there didn't seem to be any malice behind it. "My mom would love you. She's crazy about that gardening stuff."

"Sounds like a pretty awesome mom." Chester let those words slip without even realizing he spoke out loud.

"You should have seen the last garden she had. It must have had like fifty different kinds of flowers." Abby huffed in amusement.

"I mostly have vegetables in my garden." Chester said, growing a bit more confident.

Abby's smile grew even bigger. "You grow your own vegetables?

"Um, yeah." Chester bashfully scratched the back of his head. "I know it must sound weird but…"

"No, I think it sounds pretty cool. I mean, not only do you save lots of money not buying your own veggies but it's cool you can do something with actual practical use."

Chester smiled. "You wanna see something?" He reached into his backpack and pulled out a jar of pickles. He placed it on the table.

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Um, pickles?"

The blonde boy nodded. "I made them myself."

"You grew your own pickles?"

"Well, technically you _grow _cucumbers then you make them into pickles." Chester clarified, hoping he didn't sound arrogant or anything. "I grew the cucumbers in my garden, then I pickled them in vinegar and added dill seeds and pepper for flavour."

"I didn't know you could add flavours to pickles of all things." Abby commented.

"Oh you can flavour pickles anyway you want. That's what they do at fast-food restaurants before they stick 'em on hamburgers." Chester explained.

"Can I test one?" Abby asked.

Chester blinked. "Um, sure." He grabbed the jar and tried to open it but no matter how much he squeezed and twisted it, the lid wouldn't budge. "Sorry, it has to be airproof." He chuckled nervously.

Abby leaned over and snatched the jar from him. She then twisted off the lid with one solid hand movement.

Chester blushed and scratched the back of his head again. "Wow, you're much stronger than me."

"Well, I have been training martial arts since I was a kid so don't scold yourself too hard." She said before skewering one of the pickles on her fork and brought it to her mouth, loudly crunching down on it.

Chester lowered his head, scratching his hand nervously. It was a long time since he opened up this much to anyone.

Abby's eyes widen slightly as she felt the taste. "Man, these tastes even better than the ones I get from the store. I mean, they're a bit sour but still."

The boy peaked up, staring at her. How long had it been since he received a compliment? Sure, the teachers would complement him whenever he did a good job but those never felt particularly meaningful and he could not remember any of his peers ever paying him a compliment. He didn't quite know how to react. "It-it's nothing special," he blushed as he lowered his head again but he smiled genuinely, "but thanks."

"Is this something you want to do after you finish school? Be a farmer or a greengrocer or something?" Abby asked, taking another bite of the pickle.

Chester shook his head. "No, I-I ho-hope to study botany." He then lowered his voice, absentmindedly mumbling to himself. _"I want to help people, like my grandpa did."_

Abby blinked. "Huh?"

Now Chester blinked too. "Um, I mean um, I-I think botany can do some really good for people." The blonde boy quickly clarified. "Um, may-maybe I can raise some new hybrids that can grow in arid climates or something."

Abby looked at him puzzled for a moment before smiling. "You're an interesting guy, Chester. With those ambitions I bet you're a hero in the making."

Chester couldn't help but let a giant, megavolt smile spread across his face. The two kept on talking, they talked about what their hopes for college, sports, music and how much they hated bullies. Abby was relieved that Chester wasn't like other geeks who only talked about video-games and sci-fi shows while Chester was similarly relieved that not all sport jocks were arrogant bullies. Most of all thou, Chester was relieved to finally be able to talk freely with someone. Abby didn't seem bothered by him and the few times Chester said something he wish he hadn't, he quickly clarified himself and Abby shrugged it off.

After a while, Paige and her friends entered the cafeteria. Upon seeing Abby conversing with the blonde freak, Paige was visible irritated. "What's Abby doing with Chester Fester?"

"I don't know but they seem to be having fun." Vicky replied.

Tammy shrugged. "Well, she is new here. Perhaps she doesn't know any better."

"Right. Then maybe we should warn her of who she's associating with." Paige stated before storming up to the redhead. "Abby?"

Abby turned to look at her and shot her a pleasant smile. "Hey Paige."

Chester got nervous the moment the blonde girl showed up.

"Abby, do you know who _that_ is?" Paige asked, nodding at Chester who immediately lowered his head to hide his face.

"Yeah, he is Chester Ferris." Abby exclaimed. "How so?"

"He's a freak and a stalker. You shouldn't associate with him." Paige stated with authority.

Abby was taken aback. She turned to Chester. "Chester, is that true?"

'_I have to speak up. I have to convince her I am better than that or else she hates me like everyone else.' _"N-no! It-it's not t-true."

"Yes it is." Vicky now spoke up. "He's always staring and following people around. He's an absolute stalker."

Abby looked at Chester, expecting a retort.

"I-I'm sorry." Chester said, lifting his head up slightly. "I-I want to-to talk to p-p-people b-b-but I-I am not ve-very g-g-good at it or I don't know wh-what to s-sa-say so I-I end up fol-following them around. I-I wasn't stalking anyone."

Vicky snorted, giving the blonde boy a look that said, _'how dare he talk back to me.'_

"As if that was the worst of it." Paige stated. "The guy kills small animals only to watch them rot."

Chester peaked up slightly. "Not true! I would never hurt an animal."

"But you did poke that dead bird on the highway, right?" Paige quizzed with a smirk.

Chester sunk into himself, he felt like he was shrinking. "I never touched it. I poked it with a stick. I-I know b-b-better than to t-touch a carcass."

"You got to be kidding me. Just look at his fucking shirt." Paige exclaimed and pointed at his stained shirt. "It's not bad enough that you come to school, smelling like a hobo but apparently you have to roll around in the mud first."

"Paige, ease up a bit." Abby suggested, hoping she could mend peace between the two but she was ignored.

Chester still wouldn't look at the girl who verbally assaulted him. "I got into a fight." He defended meekly.

"Of course you did." Paige snorted. "You're so disrespectful to everyone. You get into fights and won't even look people in the eyes when they're talking to you."

As Paige continued to lay into him, tears started falling off Chester's cheeks and stained the fabric of his pants. He remained completely silent. His conversation with Abby had been a nice breather but this was the reality of his life. Ignored by the masses and hated by anyone who noticed him. He didn't mean to make anyone feel bad but just by being himself he made people uncomfortable. In a way, he felt he deserved this but he didn't know how to do anything differently.

Paige could tell Chester had been broken and decided to go for the jugular. She just wanted to let out all her the disgust felt towards him. "There's something seriously messed up with you and one day you'll be-

"PAIGE, SHUT UP!"

The entire cafeteria went silent. Chester slowly looked up and saw Abby glaring at Paige whose jaw had completely dropped. "Abby?" The blonde girl breathed out like she had no idea what to say. All other students had temporarily stopped eating to see what was going on.

"Stop saying those kinds of things. Don't you see that you're hurting him?" Abby proclaimed, pointing at the crying boy.

Paige scowled. "So what? It's just Chester."

"He's a person. Certainly you have enough sympathy to know better."

"Why the hell are you defending him? You just got here. You know nothing about him!"

"Do you?" Abby asked. "Have you ever talked to him or tried to get to know him?"

"Why would I? He's a freak!"

"I've been called similar things. You think I'm a freak?"

Before Paige could retort, one of the teachers stepped up to them. She was a tall middle aged woman with purple hair, thick lips and long eyelashes. She wore a lengthy, sleeveless violet dress atop a vine red shirt. "Is there any trouble here?"

Paige and Abby both looked up at the woman. "Yeah, Paige's causing trouble for Chester." Abby spoke.

"Not true Miss Chitin. I was just trying to help Abby here." Paige responded.

Abby's scowl deepened. "By laying into Chester so much you got him to cry?"

"Not true!" Now Vicky spoke up. "He was acting like a creepy stalker so we called him out on it!"

"That's such a lie!"

"Enough!" The teacher practically shouted. She rubbed her temple as if she was supressing a migraine. "I don't know what's going on here but I do not want it to continue." Her eyes narrowed on the crying boy. "Chester, take your plate and sit somewhere else so this conflict won't escalate."

Chester didn't even look up at her. He simple took his plate and moved towards a table further down.

"That's unfair. He was at this table before any of us!" Abby proclaimed.

"Abigail Archer, I am only trying to solve this situation and since it's your first day I'm going to overlook whatever role you played in this." Miss Cara stated like she'd just won the argument before turning on her heels and walked away.

Paige, Vicky and Tammy sat down at the table. Paige then looked up at Abby who in turn, locked gazes with her. There were anticipation in her honey-brown eyes but her lips clenched into a light scowl, she was expecting or at least wanted Abby to fall in line and sit down with them. _'Apparently she thinks we can still be friends.' _The Archer girl let out an offended huff, took her plate and walked off without even looking at the blondes.

"I guess she thinks she's better than us." Tammy exclaimed.

"Let her go. She and that creep deserve each other." Paige said in self-righteous tone.

Meanwhile everyone else in the cafeteria stared as Abby made her way towards the table where Chester was sitting.

"_Is she seriously sitting down with him?"_ Someone mumbled.

"_Does she like that creep or something?"_

"_Who is she? I've never seen her."_

"_How can anyone has so long hair?"_

Chester didn't look up from his plate till Abby was about nine feet away from him. He gazed at her with confusion. His eyes followed her till she sat down. Her eyes darted to the people of the cafeteria, then to him before ducking to her plate. She started shovelling what remained of the mashed potato into her mouth.

* * *

The rest of the day went by quickly for Abby. She and Chester talked a little bit more whenever they got the opportunity. Thru out the classes, Paige and her friends shot her nasty glares. It certainly depressed her as she had been looking forward to being friends with them.

When Abby came home she found her brother relaxing in that comfortable armchair in the living room, eating out of a yogurt cup and watching some nature show on the TV. "Hey Abby!" He cheerfully called out to her. "Mom & dad are out grocery shopping. They'll probably take a while. There's yogurt in the fridge for ya."

"Great." Abby vented in a neutral tone and marched straight to pick the aforementioned dairy producr out of the fridge. She then strolled back to the living room and laid down in the cough next to Ty's chair. "So, how was your first day?" She asked before sliding a spoonful of yogurt down her gullet.

"Great. I already joined the school's robot-club and I meet these cool dudes named Roger and Andy."

"You can thrive anywhere, Ty." Abby smirked. "It would seem like the king of geeks has no jurisdiction."

Ty rolled his eyes at his sister's teasing. "So, how was your day?" He stuffed a spoonful into his mouth.

"Well, I think I owe you an apology."

"Oh yeah, how so?"

"Remember when you said that popular high-school girls were snobby bitches and I corrected you by saying that was an outdated stereotype?"

"Yeah." Ty suddenly stiffen when he realized what she was hinting at. "Oh." He looked at her with a sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry. Did they pick on you?"

Abby lowered her gaze, her lips formed a sad smile. "Nah but they started harassing this poor guy, Chester so I had to stand up for him."

Ty smiled a bit. "Well, I'm certain this Chester guy appreciated it."

"Yeah, I think so." Abby responded nonchalantly, too occupied with her inner thoughts. _'Chester's a sweet guy. I may try to make amends with Paige but I'll still definitely make friends with him.'_

* * *

_A while later at Chester's home…_

"Thank you." Chester's mother gladly told the delivery boy as she exchanged her money for the plastic bag the man was holding.

The moment she closed the door however, her entire demeanour changed. She scowled at Chester at the end of the kitchen before ignoring him. She pulled two Chinese takeaway boxes out of the bag and placed them on the kitchen table, picked one of them before heading for the couch in the living room.

Once she was out of the kitchen, Chester went to grab his own takeaway box before heading for his room. This was how most dinners were held in the Ferris's household. Chester would eat in his room and his mother would eat in front of the television. Whenever they ate together his mom would usually be really annoyed.

"_Don't chew so loud."_

"_Don't be ungrateful and eat everything on your damn plate!"_

"_God, you constantly mess up your clothes. Go clean yourself right now!"_

Eventually, Chester couldn't take it anymore and decided he should just eat in his room. However, as he made his way towards his room he stopped in his tracks and turned back, eyeing his mom on the sofa. Maybe today was different. His depression had always been something that agitated his mother.

"_Why do always look so gloomy for? Haven't I done enough for you?_ You _ungrateful brat!"_

But today was different. He wasn't depressed, relatively speaking and he wanted to talk about Abby. "Mom." He called out. "We got a new girl in our class today." She didn't respond but he knew she had heard. "She-she was nice to me and we-we t-talked. I-I actually think we can be f-f-friends."

His mom moved her head slightly, eyes glaring at him almost like she was trying to measure his sincerity. She then resumed watching the television. At first it didn't seem like she would say anything but then she sighed. "Well, don't let your hopes up. You know how you are with people."

Those words felt like a knife to his heart. Even his mom didn't think he could make friends.

He went to his room and sat down on his bed. He tried to eat but he didn't have the appetite for it and the Chinese food was pretty bland anyway. He ate some of the noodles before placing it away on his night table. _'I can microwave it later.'_

His eyes landed on a framed photo by the night table. It was of him and his parents when he was five years old. The memories it brought made him smile. They all seemed so happy in the photo. He didn't have any friends back then either but he was happy still because he had his parents. He still remembered listening to music with his dad, playing cops and robbers with his mom and his mom would Band-Aid his scrapes and kiss his buboes. They were all happy together. Then his dad died of an overdose and his mom was never the same. Still, Chester held those memories dearly. They gave him hope that his mom's bitterness was just a phase she was going thru and one day she would go back into being that sweet mother he used to be.

He reached downs and pulled his guitar out from underneath his bed or more accurately, _his father's_ guitar. His father had taught him how to play the instrument before he died. Chester found playing it therapeutic. It allowed him to forget everything else just and focus on something he could do without thinking much, almost like a sort of meditation. However, when he played his guitar this time something was different. The tune was happier somehow, more upbeat. He didn't just play to forget, he played cause he remembered.

* * *

That night, Chester didn't cry himself to sleep. He was awake, thinking about the days happenings. Sure, there was the usual crap he had to take but amidst all of it was Abby. No one had ever stood up for him before. Everyone seemed fairly content letting others torment him but Abby had been different. She had defended him against Paige's cruel accusations. _Paige_, one of the most popular and well respected girls in school, Abby had risked a potential friendship with _her_ for him. She thought he deserved that much. She hadn't just stood up for him but also reach out to him, kept him company and talked to him. If Chester didn't know any better he would assume she enjoyed his company. Her smile was so pure, so beautiful. How could he doubt it?

Still, Chester was certain that tomorrow everything would go back to normal. Abby would soon make some real friends. A beautiful, smart girl like her could easily become really popular and then there be no reason for her to waste time humouring him. Still, Chester was so grateful for this day, for the time he got to spend with her.

Chester didn't know how wrong he was.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I have been thinking of turning this one-shot into a multi-chapter fanfic but I'm uncertain. Tell me what you guys think about it.**


	5. Flowers

**Flowers:**

"Oh. My. God!" Chester gasped at the sight in front of him. Abby was standing right next to him and while she wasn't as dazzled as her crush, she couldn't deny, the scenery was quite amazing.

The Archers had taken Chester with them on a camping trip to the Rocky Mountains. The blonde boy had grown so close to everyone, especially Abby, that he'd become like a part of the family. Late in the afternoon, the two teens decided to go on a hike just the two of them. After marching thru the woods for a while, the trees had given way to the beautiful landscape they saw in front of them, a vast field of wildflowers. The various kinds of flowers created a magnificent kaleidoscope of colours, illuminated by the brilliant sunset.

Chester took a few steps forth to inspect it more closely. "Beautiful," he turned to face his companion, "isn't it, Abby?"

Seeing her friend cast in the light of the late sun, Abby smiled and tilted her head. "Yes Chester, it's all so beautiful." Although, it wasn't the environment she was referring to. _'He's so handsome. Somehow, he looks both feral and divine at the same time. Like a hero out of a fantasy novel.'_

Chester blinked but then smiled and took Abby the wrist, leading her out onto the meadow.

"Look here." The blonde exclaimed and let go of the redhead. He bent down and scooped up a cluster of small flowers with white petals and yellow stigmas. "These are some of my favourite. _Achillea mille_-I mean, yarrows." Chester rectified and bashfully rubbed the back of his head.

Abby let out a small chuckle. "Its okay, Chester. I know you can all Latin names of all these flowers. I don't mind if you want to geek out a little."

Chester smiled upon hearing that. "Well, these are _Achillea millefolium_ or yarrows. They can withstands both draughts and parasites."

"That's pretty cool." Abby commented.

"And pretty fitting since yarrows symbolizes everlasting love." Chester stated and held out the flowers for Abby.

The ponytailed girl blinked puzzled and blushed. _'Is he really giving me those flowers after saying that? That can't be a coincidence.' _Carefully, she took the flowers out of his hands.

"Hold these while I go looking for more. There are a few other native species I want for my collection." Chester said before running off.

"Oh." With those words all of Abby's romantic notions crumbled. _'He just wanted me to hold onto to them. Damn, I'm starting to think like a lovesick little girl.'_

Chester soon came back with a cluster of yellow flowers. "These are _Asclepias tuberosa_ also known as milkweeds. They're the main food of the monarch butterfly." He handed them to Abby who upon grabbing them, squeezed a milky substance out of the plants which stuck to her fingers like syrup.

"Yuck." Abby gagged.

"Whoops. Don't lick that, its toxic. Milkweeds produce it to repel harmful insects." Chester clarified.

The ponytailed girl rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I wasn't going to."

Chester ran off again but came back a few seconds later to hand Abby some red flowers with long, black stigmas. "_Lilium philadelphium_. Wood lilies. They tend to bloom in July and August."

He ran off again and returned with some yellow and red flowers. "_Gaillardia aristata_. Blanketflowers. Native Americans used them to treat infections."

He handed them to Abby before running off again. He soon came back with some azure blue flowers with rectangle shaped petals. "_Cichorium intybus_ or Chicory. They're also called blue daisies or coffeeweeds." He handed them to Abby before running off again.

Abby looked at what had become of bouquet of flowers in her hands and sighed deeply. _'Great. First time a guy gives me a bouquet and he doesn't even do it intentionally. Here we are in this beautiful, romantic setting and all Chester wants to do is study the local flora. Abby Archer, you sure know how to pick them.'_

Chester came running back with an amethyst coloured flower in his hand. He seemed even more excited than usual. "Hey, look! I found a _Rose Virin_-

He suddenly tripped on a root sticking out of the ground and fell face first onto the ground.

"Chester!" Abby cried out and ran up to her crush. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Chester replied as he got onto his feet and dusted off some dirt from his clothes. He then fervently searched the surrounding ground till he spotted the flower he been holding. After picking it up, he sighed in a depressed manner. The flower was unscathed but its stem had gotten crocked from the fall.

Abby tilted her head to see the flower better. "What kind of plant is that?"

"It's a _Rose virginiana_. Also known as a wild rose." He replied, eyes still resting on the sad, limp flower.

"It's colours are beautiful. Would go well with my shirt, wouldn't you say?" Abby declared cheerfully and tugged on her lavender shirt for emphasis.

Chester looked at his friend and was suddenly stricken by an idea. Slowly, he reached out the flower to Abby but instead of handing it to her, he moved it towards her head.

"Um, Chester?" Abby questioned but was ignored as her crush gently placed the wild rose behind her ear. The crocked stem actually anchored snuggly around her earlobe which in turn propped up the flower really well.

When Chester took a step back to inspect his work, he was absolutely stunned at what he saw, but not because of the flower. Illuminated by the warm colours of the sunset, Abby was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Her cheeks were flustered pink, her sky blue eyes were half-lidded and affectionate. A bouquet of his favourite flowers were clutched in front of her bosom and that purple flower in her hair was just the perfect finishing touch. She was more breath-taking than any angel. A wedding photographer would give up their entire career if they could capture something so beautiful.

Absentmindedly, Chester's hand slowly reached for the girl. He had to, he simple had to touch her to make sure it wasn't some kind of illusion. He gently cupped her left cheek.

His hand sent shivers thru out her body. Abby could feel her heart beat faster and faster but the rest of her couldn't move. Her eyes synced up with his and she could see the desire in his eyes. "Chester." She breathed out his name, closed her eyes lightly and left her lips lightly agape, giving him the incentive to do what they were both thinking.

Chester leaned in and gently kissed her lips which Abby quickly reciprocated. He held her in his arms as she snaked one arm behind his shoulders. When Chester broke the kiss, he was afraid he'd overstepped his boundaries but his fears were put to rest when he saw her smile, causing him to smile as well.

From that day on, Abby would get used to her new nickname of the Wild Rose and Chester now had another reason for gathering flowers.


	6. Rivalries

**Summary:  
Returning from summer vacation, Chester has become the most attractive guy at school and now Abby has to chase away all the girls that wants to lay their fingers on her man! **

**Features: Crazy OOC Abby, Paige bashing, boy-crazy fangirls, slight sexual undertones, dirty languish & tiny spoilers for Season 3. It's all written for comedy so don't take anything here seriously.**

* * *

**Rivalries:**

Paige was pissed. Everything she saw as people went past her in the school corridor kept aggravating her growing frustration.

It was still only the first week of her twelfth grade school year yet it was obvious a lot of things had changed in Ringworm High. First of all, Vicky and Tammy, her little lackeys since junior high, who she'd trained to be like perfect little lapdogs were no longer with her. After getting into a fight, those ungrateful little shits had concluded that she was some sort of tyrannical bitch _(how could anyone get that idea?)_ and the two then cut their ties to her. _'Ha! As if those pathetic bimbos could make it a day without her.' _

At least,that was what Paige had thought but instead the complete opposite had happened.

Tammy (beret girl) had now surpassed her as the school's most popular girl. After all, Tammy had her beat in both height and breast-size and was both smarter and nicer to people. Once she used to organize Paige's parties, nowadays she held her own. Right now she stood in the centre of a ring of people, flocking to talk to her.

Vicky (headband girl) was also there, still best friends with Tammy but now she had developed an identity of her own. She had cut her hair short, wore glasses was now studying to be an animal trainer.

"I can't believe those people, kissing that blonde bimbo's feet. It's my blonde, bimbo feet they should be kissing." Paige said before turning to her new friends. "Isn't that right, girls?"

"Tots."

"Shure."

Paige had recently replaced Tammy & Vicky with another pair of blonde cheerleaders. Tiffany, who responded to everything with _'tots'_ and Shirley who responded to everything with the word _'shure'_.

Paige's yes-girls did nothing to lighten her spirit thou. Things weren't all that great on the guy-front either. Greg, her former sweetheart, the hottest guy in class was now dating Molly. _Molly!_ The fat cow from the drama club! What the hell had the world come to?

Paige couldn't wait to meet Abby again. She had tons of built up frustrations she wanted to take out on the redhead (or someone equally unpopular).

When Paige next turned her head she was awestricken. Her jaw hit the floor at what she saw. Coming down the hallway, heading towards her was one of the hottest guys she'd ever seen, only the teen models in her magazines could compete with this magnificent specimen.

He had long, blonde hair (a plus in Paige's book) that was braided into a luxurious ponytail in the back while the front was falling over the left side of his face, obscuring his left eye. However, his right eye had a warm brown colour to it and was radiating with mysterious beauty. His skin was sun kissed, tanned, possible Latin or Greek. He wore a black t-shirt which might have been a bit too small for him because she could literally see his pecs and abs thru it. He also wore a pair of olive green jeans (unorthodox but they looked good on him). Tall, athletic and handsome. He looked like the kind of guy girls read about in romance novels.

Paige's mouth suddenly felt very dry, she licked her lips. "Who is that? Well, whoever he is, he's sending my hunk-ometer into the dangerous red-zone." The blonde purred and wiped some drool off his lips. "I'm definitely putting my moves on him." She adjusted her bra to make her breasts more presentable before turning to her friends, hands on her hips. "Do I look hot or what?" She asked but her sycophantic friends seemed even more braindead than usual as their gazes followed this new guy as he walked past them. Damn, even seen from behind he was a total stud. Paige rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm gonna make first contact."

Paige started heading towards her prey but stopped when she noticed that Shirley and Tiffany was following her. "Hey, I'm doing this solo. Remember, I have first dibs on all heartthrobs coming thru here!" She stated before resuming advancing on her target, leaving her new friends disappointed.

By the time she reached the boy, he was occupied organizing his locker. "Hey there stranger, my name's Paige Logan." She said in a flirtatious tone and offered up a greeting hand. The male heartthrob looked at her with a confused expression but then took her hand.

"Hey Paige."

'_Damn, even his voice is sexy.' _"I just want to let you know that as class representative it's my duty to help all new student _anyway_ I can. I can show you around the school and if you feel you can't catch up we can go to my place and you'll see what you've missed." The rich girl exclaimed with a mischievous smirk, getting closer and closer into the guys comfort zone.

The boy smiled amusingly at her. "Thanks Paige. That's really sweet of you but I am not new here."

Paige's grin remained but she tilted her head a bit. "You can't be serious. I would have remember seeing a handsome guy like-

"Chester!" A happy, familiar voice abruptly called out and two blondes turned around to see Abby running towards them. The redhead practically leaped at the attractive boy, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. The boy kissed her back with enthusiasm, stroking her ponytail and wrapping an arm over the small of her back, pressing her against his body while keeping her off the floor.

"I missed you." Abby said one they've broken the kiss.

The tanned skinned man kept holding her and chuckled at her words. "Abby, we saw each other less than three days ago and the day before that and the day before that and all nights in-between."

"Still not enough." The redhead retorted and pecked his lips. The two then started to passionately making out with each other.

Paige meanwhile stared at the two with her mouth agape and eyes full of disgust. "Wait! Time out!" Her laud voice was enough to get the two to let go of each other and give their attention to the annoyed blonde. "Who is this guy and why are you, Abigail sucking his face? You can't just call dibs on any hottie, you know."

Abby blinked puzzled before looking at her boyfriend who in response simple shrugged his shoulder. "Paige, don't you recognize him?" She gestured at the boy.

"No. Should I?" Paige exclaimed like she'd been offended.

"Paige, this Chester. Chester Ferris." Abby stated.

The rich blonde blinked before eyeing the teenage stud and tried to compare him to the Chester she knew from memory. At first the two seemed nothing alike. The Chester she remembered was scrawny as a pasta string with a hunched gate, unflattering brown clothes and messy, dirty hair. However, as she kept studying this perfect specimen of a man the more she recognized the similarities. The tanned skin had the same hue but without any of the wrinkles underneath the eyes that Chester used to have and his hair was of the same kind of blonde just better kept. With a gasp, Paige realized that the hunk in front of her truly was Chester.

"What? But how? He is so…I mean…" It was like Paige's mind had snapped in half. On one hand, she couldn't deny that Chester was incredible good looking but at the same time she could wrap her mind around the fact that this was _Chester, _the boy she'd been calling scarecrow and resident school hobo and all other kinds of things. He was a loser, she had branded him as such and that can't change. Can it? In the end, Paige decided to keep up the lie she was already selling.

She straightened her posture, trying to seem unfazed. "Well, I just couldn't recognize him cause he wasn't dressed like a has-been rock-star as he usually does."

Chester sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I know. Abby and some of our friends helped me update my wardrobe." In truth, Chester had gotten new clothes because he lost Kid Rot's powers over the summer. Now, he didn't have to wear polyester all the time so could dress in all kinds of clothes and Abby, Tammy and Vicky were more than happy to pick out something more modern for him.

Paige crinkled her nose after getting a whiff of Chester's smell. She then leaned in and sniffed the blonde boy, his husky aroma only elevated her growing lust. "He also doesn't smell like old meat on a hot road anymore."

Chester chuckled nervously. "Yeah. You see the reason I smelled before was cause of a medical condition but I got that cured over the summer." In truth, his bad smell had been a bi-product of Kid Rot's powers and without them he didn't smell any worse than any other teenager.

"Well, I'm happy you're doing better." Paige said with insincere politeness.

Abby meanwhile, hugged her boyfriend's muscular arm and kissed his cheek. "I never minded it. Besides, all the flowers you give me covers up any body odours."

"You're welcome, my Wild Rose." Chester said and kissed her lips.

Paige scowled. _'First Greg and now smexy Chester, does Abby think she can steal all the hotties? Then again, Chester's probably just dating this nerd cause he never had any better offers so maybe I still got a chance.' _"Chester, I want to apologize for being so mean to you in the past." Paige exclaimed in a sad tone and puppy dogs.

"Really?" Chester asked, a cheerful grin spreading across his face.

Abby on the other hand sneered and narrowed her eyes at the blonde harpy. "Really?"

"Yes. I never meant any of it. Sorry." Paige exclaimed, making sure her puppy face got even sadder.

"Then why did you do it?" Abby inquired, not buying this apology for a second.

The rich girl was about to respond but Chester spoke up first. "You're forgiven, Paige. I just hope we can be friends from now on."

"Oh, I'm sure we will." Paige said, giving the boy's biceps a squeeze.

Abby's face scrunched up into an ugly frown. _'Bitch! How dare you flirt with my boyfriend right in front of me?' _She only felt slightly vindicated by Chester's obvious discomfort at Paige's advances. Still, she wasn't going to let this continue.

She grabbed her boyfriend's arm and started leading him away. "Come on, Chester. Remember you wanted to check out the gardener club's greenhouse before class started."

"See you later, my friend." Paige waved them of politely.

"The gall on that one." Abby muttered bitterly.

"What do you mean, Abby? I thought she was a lot nicer than usual. Who knows, maybe she's actually changed this time." Chester said with an innocent smile.

"Sweetie, if Paige is nicer to you, I don't think it's cause she's had a change of heart."

Chester blinked. "Then what is it?"

Abby sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. There were two things her sweet, beautiful boyfriend was completely oblivious to. Social ques and his own qualities. "Never mind."

* * *

Abby had hoped that was the end of it but it would soon be apparent that that was only the beginning. Paige wasn't even the only one trying to steal her boyfriend. Chester had surpassed Greg as the hottest guy in class (not that Greg minded as he was happy with Molly) so now a lot of girls was trying to get close to him.

And Abby had her hands full trying to keep them all away from her man…

* * *

_At the school's greenhouse…_

Chester was busy watering the soil of some potted plants, all stacked in rows atop a counter. Spilled water made his shirt stick to his well-toned body, earning him the attention of some nearby females.

One girl with long blonde hair and tanned skin skidded up next to Chester. "Hey Chester." She greeted with a bright smile, leaning in close to him.

"Um, hey Sabrina." Chester greeted, slightly disturbed by her close proximity.

"Say, can you help me pick out a plant to write an essay on. You are just so much better at these kinds of things than me." She flipped her hair and 'unintentionally' squeezed her breasts between her arms.

"Well, sure. Um, how about ferns." Chester suggested.

"I was thinking about some kind of flower. Specifically, something that matches my eyes." Sabrina flirtatiously exclaimed and leaned in even closer to him, getting right up in his face.

"Um, e-eyes?" Chester stammered nervously.

"Yeah. You know what colours my eyes are, right?"

Suddenly, Abby got in-between the two, holding a weird potted plant in her hands. "I have a plant you can study, Sabrina." She gestured to the strange plant. It was a flower but its pedals were thick, red and with pale scars. "This is known as a corpse flower. It smells like rotten meat to attract flies."

Abby then held the flower up to the girl's face which nearly turned green once she got a sniff of the disgusting odour. "Sorry, gotta go." Sabrina exclaimed and ran off.

Chester looked at Abby who shot him an innocent smile.

* * *

_In Gym class…_

Chester was doing his exercises on the gymnastic rings. Twelve feet below him, a group of fangirls (Paige among them) gathered to watch their Adonis work out. They had free-time at the gym today, meaning the gym teacher had given them free rein to exercise however they wanted, although some obviously took the opportunity to do more leisurely things.

"Wow, Chester. You've really gotten ripped over the summer." Paige said.

Chester smiled down at her. "Thanks. I promise I'll be done soon. I didn't know so many people would use the rings."

"Oh, don't mind us." Paige replied.

"Yeah, do as many stretches as you want. We'll watch-I mean wait." Another fangirl said.

Chester gave a nod of appreciation before using his upper-arm strength to pull himself above the rings he was holding onto. He balanced upside down for a moment before slipping his legs into the rings.

Part of the reason why Chester was so clueless to the girls' intentions was cause he hadn't built up his muscles to impress anyone (other than Abby perhaps). Chester was a Grossologist now and he took that very seriously. He constantly trained to make sure that his body to keep up with any mission. Now when his powers were gone, he felt it was even more important stay fit.

He did a few more exercises on the gymnastic rings before jumping down. To his surprise there was only one girl there waiting for him, Abby with a friendly smile and hands behind her back.

"Oh, hey Abby. Say, where did Paige and all the others go? I thought they waited for me to finish."

"Oh, they got tired of waiting." Abby said before hugging her boyfriend's arm. "Come now, Chester. I need someone to help me with my pull-ups." She led Chester away, making sure he didn't notice Paige and the others tied up with climbing ropes high up by the ceiling and with tennis balls stuffing their mouths.

* * *

_Outside of music class…_

Music escaped thru the closed door to the school's music room. The only on there was Tammy until Abby walked up to her from behind. "Hey, Tammy. What's going on in there?"

"Ever since it became known that Chester could play the guitar, some of the girls pestered him into tutor him as a way to put the moves on him. Pretty pathetic if you ask me." It wasn't until then that Tammy turned around and saw who she was talking to. "Oh, hey Abby. Is that a vein or a tumour on your forehead?"

Abby's teeth were gritting in anger and a vein in her forehead was visible throbbing. She stomped pass Tammy and slammed the music room's door open. Inside she found her boyfriend sitting on a chair with his father's old guitar in his lap and half a dozen girls (Paige included) sitting in a semi-circle around him, noticeable most of them had no musical instruments at hand at all.

The ponytailed girl inhaled to let out a furious scream at the interlopers but her rational side stopped her. She couldn't show open hostility in front of Chester, he wouldn't like it (nor get it). _'I need to get these bitches away from him without getting violent. Think Abby, think. What do girls like? Alligators, spiders? No that's only me. What does Normal girls like?' _

Then Abby had an idea. "Chester, someone outside the teacher's lounge is selling half-naked pics of you."

"What!" Chester shouted as he abruptly rose up.

"Oh, look at the time. I need to go." Paige said.

"Yeah, I need to go and wash my hair." Another girl said before they all stampeded out of the room, probably to buy one of those aforementioned pics.

"I can't believe someone would distribute slanderous photos of me!" Chester lamented as tried to leave to room. "The same thing happened at my old school-

He was stopped by his girlfriend who grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back into the room. "Calm down, Chester. I made all that up so the others would leave."

Chester sighed. "Abby, why are you doing this? Whenever someone tries to hang out with me lately you do something to chase them off. Are you against me making friends because newsflash, that's what I've always wanted."

"I've only tried to keep the sluts, I mean girls away from you." Abby argued.

Chester blinked. "Since when have you been against me having female friends? I mean, Naomi, Tammy and Vicky are our friends, right?"

"True but Chester, I don't think all these girls have your best interest in mind. I think they just want to get into your pants."

Chester blinked. "Why would anyone but you want that?" Due to his upbringing the blonde boy was pretty clueless about his qualities.

"Because all that training you did over the summer and your resent growth spurt has made you unbelievable gorgeous!" Abby practically shouted at him.

Chester tilted his head a bit. "Abby, do feel threatened by these girls."

Abby blinked. "Of course not."

"Good, cause I hope you know that there's no one else for me." Chester reassured while placing a hand on her arm. "You were the first person to reach out to me, the first one to call me friend and you saved me from being Kid Rot's vessel all my life. You helped me to recognize my flaws and my strengths and helped me grow as a person." His hand moved down her arm till he got a hold of her hand, he then took her other hand as well. Finally, he rested his forehead against hers. "Compare to that, those other girls got nothing to compete with. You're the one I want to spend all my time with."

Abby blushed as a smile crept over her face. "I know Chester. Those girls just made me mad is all but I know I can trust you.

Chester pressed her lips against hers. "I love you, Abby."

"I love you too, Chester." Abby replied and kissed him back. Chester kissed her again but this time longer and more passionately. Abby knew where this was going. "Wait a second." She closed the door and locked it before returning to her boyfriend's arms. "There. Now we won't get interrupted."

Their lips locked onto one another again and they made out for the rest of recess.

* * *

Abby's endeavours to keep Chester's fangirls away were very successful. Unless it was girls she approved of like Naomi or Jasmine, it became difficult for any classmate with a double X-chromosome to even get close to the blonde boy.

That was until Paige hatched an idea. During the summer Chester had gotten a part-time job, fittingly at a gardening company. Paige saw this as a way to get Chester for herself. She called the gardening company and asked specifically for Chester Ferris to work on her estate's garden. When Chester's boss asked why she specifically asked for him, she said it was cause they were classmates and she wanted to support him.

Thou summer break was over, the summer weather subsisted. Something Chester noticed when he started working in Paige's giant garden. Eventually he had to take his sweat-heavy shirt off. Paige along with Tiffany and Shirley started off spying on their favourite fuckboy from Paige's bedroom window but eventually they moved out to relax in the summer chairs while still ogling the half-naked gardener.

Paige was pretty pleased with himself. She had the perfect eye-candy working for her, the perfect lemonade at hand and a perfect set of sunglasses as she sunbathed in the perfect weather to build up a perfect tan.

Suddenly, a shadow blocked the sun. "Hey, get out of my sun." Paige nagged as she lifted sunglasses to see who was bothering her.

It was Abby, aiming what appeared to be a goopshooter. There was a *click* and the goopshooter fired a web which completely ensnared Paige and blackened her vision.

"What the heck's the meaning of this?" Paige complained. Tiffany and Shirley let out horrified shrieks before Abby did the same to them. She then took the three bagged girls and dragged them away.

* * *

"Abby, please! Have mercy! We promise, we'll never flirt with Chester again!" Paige begged sobbing as she twisted in her bounds. She and her two friends had all been tied to trees in Ringworm Park.

"Silence!" Abby shouted, glaring at the girls who were at her mercy. "You've bullied me for as long as I can remember, Paige but I've always overlooked it but this time you did something inexcusable. You tried to steal my precious Chester away from me! For that you have to be punished.

The longhaired redhead bend down and opened up a glass box and with a metal tong she picked up the content that had the girls so scared. "This is a camel spider." Abby explained. The rat-sized arthropod clapped its huge jaws and flailed its long, hairy legs. "It's actually not a spider but it does belong in the Arachnid class, sorry, sometimes I just geek out over these things. They're super-fast, super-aggressive and as you can tell from those big fangs, super-painful. Even army guys stationed in Iraq are terrified of these things."

"Abby, please don't do this. We promise we'll never even talk to Chester again." Paige cried.

"Sorry, Paige." _'No, not-sorry. You've been a bitch to me for too long. You deserve everything you get.' _"But I have to make an example out of you three so all other disrespectful harlots will know to not come between me and my man." Abby stated as she started advancing on the tied up trio, the angry camel spider held forth.

"Abby, no! No, no, no, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

From that day on, no girl ever tried anything on Chester. They all lived in fear after hearing how Abby stuffed Paige's underwear as well as the underwear of her companions with flesh-eating spiders for trying to move in on her man. Paige and her friends meanwhile had to wear special diapers for weeks since their sore bottoms had gotten too sensitive to sit on. Abby should be satisfied but she wanted to be absolutely certain that none of this ever happened again.

* * *

_In Abby's bedroom, a week later…_

"There, all done." Abby happily proclaimed as she finished her adjustments on Chester's new hairband. To most people it would look like a normal hairband to hold his ponytail together but in actuality it was a device that Abby had built (with a little help from LabRat).

"Tell me again what this thing is for?" Chester asked confused, patting the base of his ponytail.

"This is my Estrogen-O-Meter. Whenever you're near another women, this thing will send a signal to my cell phone."

Chester raised an eyebrow. "Then what? Will you hunt us down or something?"

"No, Chester. I'm in love not insane. I will simple send a little message to you asking if everything's alright. Although, if you don't answer, I might hunt you down."

"Eh, Abby you're getting a little bit possessive. You almost remind me of Kid Rot." Chester said concerned.

"_Thish, thish."_ Abby reprimanded by waving her index at him. "I'm nothing like Kid Rot. Kid Rot was a creep who couldn't take no for an answer. I just want to protect someone I love. Besides, guys like you are an endangered species, like snow leopards, so when a girl like me gets a catch like you we tend to want to keep tabs on them." She said as her voice turned more and more seductively, her arms snaking around his neck. She kissed his lips.

Chester smirked, a light blush over his cheeks. "You know you're the only one for me?" He said before planting a kiss on her luscious lips.

"I know. Now…" Abby replied with a smirk before pressing on his chest, gently pushing him onto her bed. "This crazy girlfriend thing has really gotten me stressed." She undid her ponytail, letting her long red mane cascade around her before straddling her boyfriend. "So, I need you unwind me the best way you know how."

"If that's the case, you're wish is my command." Chester replied huskily.

Abby smirked as she looked down on her boyfriend's broad chest and handsome face, thinking how lucky she was to make her claim on this guy before he became such a delicious hunk.

She grabbed the hem of Chester's t-shirt and pulled it off him before descending on his glorious body, know he was hers and hers only.

* * *

**AN: Some of the events in this story (not the crazy parts) are based on plans I have for my Season 3 fanfic series. So yes, Tammy & Vicky (Paige's current sidekicks) will go thru a little character ark where they end their friendship with Paige. Tiffany and Shirley are OCs that will appear much later in the series.**


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